June 2021 - General Weather Discussion

[Pete]

^

New/er neighborhoods have sidewalks because they are now required when there is any sort of construction.

But for most of the last century, the city didn't think they were important and people here got so used to that, the whole thing became this downward spiral we are now desperately trying to pull ourselves out of.

If you live here, you have to have a ton of discipline not to be obese. Eating out and sitting around is deeply embedded in our culture.

[Anonymous.]

Look at new businesses popping up. Still under-utilized rooftops and patios. Lack of heaters or misters. Which pay for themselves in like one year when you consider they extend patio season by 4+ months here.

OKC just hasn't grasped the concept of making outdoors enjoyable....yet.

[TheTravellers]

It was the same during May and every other month this year.

I'm lucky that since my 'hood has an elementary school in the middle of it, we received a decent amount of new sidewalks. I choose to walk where they exist, which means even in my relatively sidewalk blessed area, I take very circuitous routes. And to cover any real distance, I still find myself walking in the street more than anyone should. It's a simple function of not dealing with a very small cost when streets and homes and businesses were built, versus spending millions and millions after the fact.

The culture in Oklahoma is not to get out and recreate and that is deeply embedded going back generations. Even the people serious about fitness usually go to an indoor gym. I want to be outside as much as I can. And the fact so few people do this is bad for our city in a million ways. We all stay disconnected or don't care that most of this town is hideously maintained. You don't notice or concern yourself with that sort of thing as you blow by in your car. It's shocking and deeply upsetting to see how things are when you are on foot.

Again, Venice seems to be opposite of your neighborhood, Pete. When it's not brutally hot out, we see easily 50-60 people each day out walking, jogging, walking their dogs, running, with kids, without kids, etc. We do live on a busy corner in Venice, though, so we probably see more people than somebody living in the middle of a street, and I WFH, so I can see who's out there throughout the day, not just in the evening hours...

[SEMIweather]

^

On the positive side, that's what I've grown to love about Scissortail Park. Always busy with people of all types. Will be even better when the Lower Park connects downtown to the river.

And as much as I love the Lake Hefner trails, it speaks volumes that until somewhat recently a nice lake in what was always the nicest part of OKC was nothing but weeds and mud. For decades. OKC is extremely late to the recreation game; at least there are now some outdoor options but it's going to take a very, very long time to get things where it should be and start to change the larger mentality.

You only realize all this when you live somewhere else.

Yep. It’s absurd that there still isn’t a nice walking trail all the way around Overholser.

[Pete]

Think about the absurdity of having to get into your car and *drive* to recreation.

No city should be set up that way.

[Pete]

Again, Venice seems to be opposite of your neighborhood, Pete. When it's not brutally hot out, we see easily 50-60 people each day out walking, jogging, walking their dogs, running, with kids, without kids, etc. We do live on a busy corner in Venice, though, so we probably see more people than somebody living in the middle of a street, and I WFH, so I can see who's out there throughout the day, not just in the evening hours...

I exaggerated.

I did see one guy outside. He stepped out onto his porch for a pizza delivery.


And I always see a handful of people but it's absolutely shocking how few.

[Roger S]

Yep. It’s absurd that there still isn’t a nice walking trail all the way around Overholser.

They will start that when I finally get moved to my farm near Ardmore this fall.... Just like they did the trail around Draper when I moved from Moore.... LOL

[TheTravellers]

I exaggerated.

I did see one guy outside. He stepped out onto his porch for a pizza delivery.


And I always see a handful of people but it's absolutely shocking how few.

lol, wish I could do just that little of being outside. Mowed/weed-ate the yard today, along with a troublesome patch of lilies (didn't want to get my hedge clippers all sticky), and sawed off 2 low-hanging branches from one of our juniper trees. Actually did not see anybody out on streets/median during the time I was mowing the front yard.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Only people outside here (after 9am and before 8pm) are the lawn crews and roofers. I don't know how the roofers do it in these conditions.

Our roof is due to be replaced in a few weeks I am going to offer them access to my A/C'd work garage and have some cold water for them. This is too brutal to be in.

[Anonymous.]

Nice cool air has arrived. Showers and thunderstorms are riding down to the SE behind the front. Enjoy the break from the heat today. Highs only in the low 80s tomorrow with a start in the 50s.

[jn1780]

I noticed on Kelly and Memorial intersection that there is a big bump in the road where the road is starting to buckle at the expansion joint. Didn't think we got that much rain.

[SEMIweather]

I noticed on Kelly and Memorial intersection that there is a big bump in the road where the road is starting to buckle at the expansion joint. Didn't think we got that much rain.

The heat caused a couple of sections of SH-66 to buckle between Council and Sara Roads earlier this month, so I'm wondering if this is a similar issue. Not sure why it is happening now considering that we haven't even hit 100F so far this year.

[SEMIweather]

Was out of town over the weekend and just now starting to pay attention to the weather again, but it does appear that Friday Night has pretty good MCS potential.

[Anonymous.]

Yes, this weekend could be start of a nice stretch of some rain chances and cooler temps. Looks promising this far out.

[Anonymous.]

Friday night looks like rain chances will be mostly contained to NW and N OK.

Saturday afternoon and evening things shift further south near I-44 corridor. Locally heavy rain is possible with multiple waves of storms over repeated areas.

[mugofbeer]

111° in Portland, OR? Good Christ!

[Anonymous.]

Yes some extreme heat for the west coast the next few days. There is some people out there that don't have AC. Their night times should cool off decently, though.


As for OK weather. Our pattern shift is still on schedule beginning tomorrow (Saturday). We should see highs only around 80F for the entire following week with plentiful rain chances as tropical moisture will be streaming up into a stalled out boundary. For solid part of OK, the GFS model is forecasting 5"+ of rain over the next 7 days.

[Anonymous.]

Hi-def short-range models are becoming increasingly bullish on heavy rainfall in OK the next 48 hours. Beginning to hone in on areas just N of I-44 corridor.

Flood watch is out for all of OKC metro and all points from SW to N.

[Pete]

Time to put down some fertilizer!


Does anybody have an ETA on when the rain may hit OKC this evening?

[Anonymous.]

Storms are developing now across W/NW OK. They will be moving SW to NE, but the development line will be slowly pushing E.

My guess is rain in OKC around 3-4am.

[SEMIweather]

First complex of storms currently in Western OK and the Texas Panhandle will most likely miss OKC to the north. A second complex should develop behind the first complex later this evening in the Texas Panhandle, and that one should move into OKC around 3-5 a.m. or so. Flash flooding will be the main threat as 1-2" of rain seems like a good bet with this wave of storms, possibly more if the complex stalls out over the Metro (impossible to predict at this time). Additional rounds will be possible thereafter but will be heavily dependent upon the convective evolution tonight into tomorrow morning.

[SEMIweather]

Just got woken up by some strong winds and very loud thunder as an MCS is currently moving into the Metro. Warning is out for 70 mph winds, roughly north and west of the I-35/I-240 interchange

[SEMIweather]

Severe threat is done for the Metro for now. The current convective complex should gradually decrease over the rest of the morning. Most of the Metro should end up getting 1-2" of rain with this complex so there will probably be some ponding on roadways. Another round of convection should then develop early this afternoon. At this time, short-range models appear to be favoring roughly the I-44 corridor for this, although the exact location is likely to change somewhat. Wherever this round occurs, there will again be an isolated hail/wind threat, but more importantly, everything appears to be lining up for a major flooding event, as training of storms seems very likely. Entirely possible that some areas get 3-6" of rain over the next 24 hours in addition to what's already fallen. Definitely worth keeping an eye on this afternoon/evening.

[SEMIweather]

All storms have pretty much split the Metro thus far, and storm motion has been more progressive than I would have expected, so fortunately there haven’t been many flash flooding issues across the state as of right now. The frontal boundary that is triggering this activity will continue to remain stalled out for the foreseeable future, so additional rounds of convection seem likely overnight into tomorrow. Convective evolution will likely be chaotic, there will continue to be a flooding risk anywhere that storms end up training.

[Bunty]

This Weather Underground rain map covers much of the OKC metro centered on OKC as of 11:30 PM, June 26. Most weather stations got over 2" with the lion's share going to the southeast part. The biggest amount there is 5.1", assuming it's accurate.